Arab League: Date of Algiers Arab Summit Missing Starting Date

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General ambassador Hossam Zaki during a press conference in Algiers on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. (Algerian media)
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General ambassador Hossam Zaki during a press conference in Algiers on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. (Algerian media)
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Arab League: Date of Algiers Arab Summit Missing Starting Date

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General ambassador Hossam Zaki during a press conference in Algiers on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. (Algerian media)
Arab League Assistant Secretary-General ambassador Hossam Zaki during a press conference in Algiers on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. (Algerian media)

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Hossam Zaki said the date of the Arab summit scheduled to be held in Algeria hasn’t been determined yet.

“The date of the summit will be specified based on consultations between the host country and the rest of the member states,” Zaki told a press conference, noting that it will be held following the holy month of Ramadan.

He affirmed Algeria’s preparedness to host this major event, adding that it is sharing all its arrangements with the Arab League.

Zaki also touched on attempts to achieve Arab reconciliation and reunification, noting that it depends on the success of the preliminary consultations and dialogues.

Officials from the Algerian Foreign Ministry discussed on Wednesday with an Arab League delegation, headed by Zaki, the logistical and organizational preparations for the upcoming Arab summit, expected to be held in March.

“In preparation for hosting the upcoming Arab summit in Algeria, a coordination meeting was held at the headquarters of the foreign ministry, co-chaired by Ambassador Nor-Eddine Aouam, the Special Envoy in charge of the Palestinian cause, the Middle East and Libya, and Zaki, who was accompanied by high-ranking delegation from the AL General Secretariat,” read a foreign ministry statement.

The visiting delegation’s agenda includes holding coordination meetings with the subcommittees emanating from the National Committee charged with preparing and organizing for the next Arab Summit, in addition to visits to several establishments and facilities that will host the work of the Arab League Council at the summit level and its preceding preparatory meetings.

The delegation arrived in Algiers on Monday to meet with representatives of the National Committee charged with preparing for the summit.



France Highlights Its Role in Brokering Lebanon Ceasefire Deal

 Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
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France Highlights Its Role in Brokering Lebanon Ceasefire Deal

 Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)
Lebanese soldiers ride in a convoy in Mansouri, as they head to southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP)

France’s foreign minister underlined his country’s role in brokering an agreement that ended fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group alongside the US, saying the deal wouldn’t have been possible without France’s special relationship with its former protectorate.

“It’s a success for French diplomacy and we can be proud,” said the minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, speaking hours after the ceasefire went into effect Wednesday.

“It is true that the United States have a privileged relationship with Israel. But with Lebanon, it’s France that has very old ties, very close ties,” the minister added. “It would not have been possible to envisage a ceasefire in Lebanon without France being involved on the front line.”

France will be involved in monitoring the ceasefire, Barrot noted, with 700 French soldiers deployed as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, that has been patrolling the border area between Lebanon and Israel for nearly 50 years.

The minister said France will also work to strengthen Lebanese troops that will deploy in the south of the country as part of the ceasefire, although he didn’t specify what that might include.